Liz Carmouche Has the ‘Lizbos’ in Her Corner Heading Into UFC 157

By: Tristen CritchfieldJan 18, 2013

UFC
157, the first card to feature a female bout in the Las
Vegas-based promotion’s history, is obviously a landmark event.

Ronda
Rousey has received the lion’s share of the attention for her
part in bringing women to the Octagon for the first time, and
deservedly so. The Olympic judoka is as magnetic outside the cage
as she is dominant in it, giving her the type of crossover appeal
that few athletes ever achieve. Without Rousey, it is probably safe
to say that Dan Henderson
and Lyoto
Machida would still be headlining UFC 157, while the sport’s
top female talents would be left to showcase their skills
elsewhere.

However, there are two sides to every fight, and Rousey’s opponent,
Liz
Carmouche, is doing more than just improving gender equity in
the Octagon. She is also breaking new ground as the promotion’s
first openly gay fighter.

“I expected more backlash,” Carmouche told glaad.org. “I expected
people not to accept me for who I was, and I actually experienced
the exact opposite.”

As she transitioned to the MMA community, she was welcomed with
open arms at Team Hurricane Awesome by coach Manny
Hernandez and his team. In fact, it was Hernandez who came up
with the catchy moniker “Lizbos” for Carmouche’s supportive legion
of fans.

“He wanted to do something that would unite the fans and make them
feel like they were connected,” Carmouche said.

So yes, Rousey is the main draw at the Honda Center in Anaheim,
Calif., on Feb. 23, but Carmouche is hardly alone -- a supportive
legion of “Lizbos” will be watching and cheering her every
move.